New task force to combat high levels of drug deaths in Blackpool

The Combating Drugs and Alcohol Harm Reduction Board includes representatives of the NHS, council, police, probation service and the prison service.

It will base solutions on the lived experience of people affected by drug abuse, and explore the trauma which may have led them down that path.

Work by Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) to address the root causes of drugs misuse and break down supply chains will also inform a fresh action plan.

Blackpool has the highest rate of drug misuse deaths in England at 19.4 per 100,000 people, which is almost four times higher than the England average of 5.1 per 100,000.

Latest figures show there were 117 drug poisoning deaths in Blackpool between 2019 and 2021, 76 of which were categorised as drug misuse, with males accounting for more than two thirds of cases.

Judith Mills, consultant in public health at Blackpool Council, told a meeting of the Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee, there had been some improvements in the number of drug related deaths.

But lasting change could only be measured over a number of years.

She said: “We still face major issues in that we have drug related deaths, but it is not just about an overdose.

“It is also in relation to people whose health gets worse as they get older. They die of something else but are still taking drugs.

“What we want is a reduction in overdoses, but also good intervention and health care for vulnerable people in Blackpool.”

Ms Mills said future work would be trauma informed and added: “We don’t put barriers in place that mean we don’t understand what people have faced and how we can help them.”

However proposals to pilot safe spaces in Blackpool where addicts could take drugs with assistance available should they overdose have stalled.

The committee heard such a move would require new government legislation which so far was not forthcoming.

Figures have shown around a third of fatal drug overdoses in Blackpool are among people who are alone at the time and so have no-one to either summon help or administer life-saving treatment.